A Halfa and A Fruitloop
by DannyTheDapper
Summary: Danny/Vlad. When all of Danny's family and friends are killed in an accident at the Nasty Burger, Danny has only one person to turn to: Vlad.
1. Tragedy

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Danny Phantom. Take place in the altermate timeline in "The Ultimate Enemy."**

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Danny trembled as he stared at the smoking remains of the Nasty Burger, where his family and friends once stood. He had been at a meeting with Mr. Lancer because he had cheated on the C. A. T, against his better judgement. Now, his family and friends: Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, even Mr. Lancer, were all gone. They were gone. Where they were seconds ago was now a burning heap, and it was all his fault.

That reality shook him the most. It was all his fault. Because he had cheated on a test, six people were dead. The news would brand it as an accident, and that he was the sole survivor. No, he wasn't a survivor; he was a murderer.

He broke down and shook among the debris as he weeped, police cars and ambulances starting to arrive on the scene of what once was the Nasty Burger.

He vaguely heard "We have a survivor!" as he cried, and registered that he was being stared at. He wiped his eyes to find multiple police officers and EMTs crowding around him, crecking to see whether he was actually alive.

"Are you seriously hurt?" One EMT asked.

Danny slowly shook his head as he stood up. "I'm fine…" He blamed it on his ghost powers. He was more durable. That's why he survived. That's why he was barred from seeing his friends and family again until he died.

A chorus of "It's a miracle!" erupted while Danny just stood there, sullenly looking at the ground and threatening to cry again. This was no miracle; it was a tragedy in his eyes, and it was all his fault.

A police officer among the crowd noticed this and came forward after the cheer died down, knowing that Danny was now an orphan. "Do you have any surviving guardians?"

Danny thought about it, and buried his face in his hands. There was only one man he could think of, and although he would normally think of it as preposterous, he was desperate and emotionally fragile right now.

"Vlad Masters."

The police officer looked incredulous. "Your parents knew Vlad Masters?"

Danny cringed as he heard the use of past tense. "Please, just take me there."

The police officer nodded. "Okay, we'll get you a ride. You should go home and pack your things."

Danny solemnly agreed as he walked away from the Nasty Burger, starting to cry again as he saw the police force scouring the remains of the Nasty Burger.

After a while, he arrived at home and wiped his face, opening the door to a home that was now silent. He ascended the stairs to his room, finding a suitcase before he started to pack numerous things: clothes, toiletries, and astronomy books to name a few. He looked at yearbooks sadly as he packed them, knowing that they held multiple pictures of him with his friends.

The faint sound of a horn alerted him to his ride to his archenemy's house, though he doubted that he could call Vlad his archenemy anymore.

He took one last look at his now-empty room (save for his bed, desk, and computer), and quickly went down the stairs to meet his ride. He wiped away a tear as he knew that this would be the last time he would ever step inside Fenton Works.

As he got in the car, the driver offered his condolences, and Danny gratefully accepted them. However good his intentions might have been, though, condolences always hurt him, as they reminded him of the reality that his family and friends were gone. He saw the Amity Park Angle lying in the backseat, and immediately started weeping when he saw that the article was about him and his tragedy.

"Nasty Accidents for Fentons and Friends," read the headline, and the driver immediately apologized, moving to take the newspaper away. Danny, however, stopped him, rubbing his eyes while saying it was fine. He decided to keep it, as it would make telling Vlad about what happened easier.

The drive was long, but doable in a day. The sun was setting by the time the car arrived at Vlad's mansion, and Danny stepped out of the car. The driver reassured him that the ride was free, and left after giving him a final condolence. Danny's eyes had dried up by this point, and he waved goodbye before turning to Vlad's mansion.

Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell while still clutching onto his suitcase. Vlad opened the door, and was immediately surprised by who he saw. "Danny! What a surprise!" He exclaimed jovially.

Danny, however, did not return the greeting, and just showed him the newspaper, looking sullen.

Vlad's countenance immediately changed as he, too, looked sullen, taking a look at the newspaper. At first, he didn't believe it. Six people were dead? However, he knew that Danny wouldn't have come to him if this hadn't happened.

Although he was saddened that Maddie, the love of his life, was dead, he started to smile as he laid a hand on Danny's shoulder.

He still had Danny; his Little Badger.


	2. Doubt

Danny, however, didn't cheer up when Vlad put the comforting hand over his shoulder. In fact, it had the opposite effect; he knew that Vlad was showing pity, and his supposed arch-nemesis would never show pity like that, unless what he wanted to reject as reality was reality.

Vlad's countenance again returned to being sullen. He felt saddened that he couldn't comfort who he regarded as his son, now that Jack was dead.

Though he was confused; why did he feel so saddened by the boy's sorrow? They had been arch-enemies for quite a while now; why did Danny come to him? His main motive was to get the boy as his, but by this point, it had degenerated into a rivalry. Maybe his original motive was still there?

As for Danny, most of his family and friends were dead, but he could've stayed with other people. Valerie Gray, for example. Sure, they weren't the best of friends, but they were…acquaintances. Yes, that was the word for it.

Unfortunately, he had no more time to think about it as he was snapped out thoughts by said Danny speaking to him.

"V-Vlad?" Danny asked nervously.

"Yes, my dear boy?" Vlad replied. He displayed a surprising amount of empathy; this time, the common nicknames he had for Danny were not condescending, but instead showed his genuine attention and concern.

"Can I, you know…stay with you?"

Somehow, this request did not shock Vlad, and he already knew his answer before he had even spoken it. "Of course, Daniel, I understand. Come inside."

He let Danny in as he slowly closed the heavy doors leading to his enormous mansion. Danny just continued to look down as he stepped inside, still extremely sullen. When he got to his room, he knew he was probably going to cry again until he had no more left.

"Is there a room for me to stay in?" Danny asked. He already knew there was one, but he phrased it as to mean which room Vlad wanted him to stay in.

"Of course! You can stay in the one next to my bedroom. Up the staircase, three doors down on your left." Vlad replied.

Nodding slowly in acknowledgement, Danny dragged his bag as he went to ascend the staircase, before Vlad stopped him.

"Daniel, let me get the bag for you."

"Vlad, it's-" Danny began.

Vlad shook his head as he took the bag from him. "It's okay, really, just go upstairs."

Danny conceded and headed up to the second floor, reaching his room as Vlad followed. Danny opened the door to a lavishly decorated bedroom, with red satin sheets and a private bathroom connected to it. A large glass window faced towards the mansion's expansive courtyard, with trimmed bushes, large trees, and a fountain in the middle.

Vlad set Danny's suitcase on the floor as he looked at Danny. "I'll call you down for dinner. Do you need anything else?" Vlad inquired.

Danny shook his head, not saying anything.

Knowing that was a sign Danny didn't want him to be there, Vlad quickly gave him a slight smile before retreating back down to the dining room, which had many chairs surrounding an ornate table, with a opulent chandelier hanging from above.

He finally had the time to think about what just happened and to process it; dinner wasn't for another 2 hours. Although he knew that he had seen Danny as his son from the start, the hostile relationship they had shared had degenerated that, at least that's what he thought.

However, his kindness towards Danny which scared even himself confused him. He felt like he should have been nice to him, and he acted on these feelings. One thing still conflicted his mind though, were they from sympathy, or were they genuine?

He then saw, out of the corner of his eye, the newspaper Danny had shown him, laying on the floor of the main foyer. He went to pick it up and take it back to the dining room, where the headline, again, stuck out to him. "Nasty Accidents for Fentons and Friends", it read. Was it really true? Did an explosion at the Nasty Burger really kill of the people Danny knew?

Jack was dead. He, somehow, felt relatively little sorrow from that. The same could be said for Sam, Tucker, and Mr. Lancer 's deaths. He blamed his ghost side for that, though he knew that the malice he felt towards Jack was probably why. He WAS the one who caused the accident, anyway.

Maddie was dead. Vlad sighed as he blinked back tears. The love of his life was dead. He knew that he had to accept that, but he didn't want to. He was in denial. Now he knew how Danny felt, except at a lesser scale. It still hurt, however, as he knew that in the endless battle he fought to get Maddie, it ended abruptly with her death, and his efforts were in vain.

Jasmine was dead. This also hurt; along with Danny, he had seen her as a daughter. He would've have taken her in along with Danny in an ideal world, and her intelligence would add to his own.

Vlad stood up as he crumpled up the newspaper, throwing it in a trash bin nearby. It was no use to dwell on the past and to create unnecessary sorrow; he had learned that the hard way after the accident. He suffered from extreme grief as he recovered from the ecto-acne, and only got over it after learning that he could use his ghost powers for personal gain.

Of course, Vlad mused, that was not the best advice to give to Danny when he saw him again at dinner.

At around 6:00, Vlad headed to Danny's room from the kitchen after he had finished preparing dinner, and knocked on the closed door.

"Daniel, dinner is ready."

When he got no response, Vlad instantly had a sense of dread. Staying calm, Vlad knocked again. "Daniel? Dinner is ready." He repeated. "It's steak and potatoes."

He let out a sigh of relief when Danny responded, though his voice sounded shaky. "Coming…" He groaned as he opened the door, looking at Vlad. The number of tissues in the trash bin signaled that Danny had been crying a lot, understandably. _Remember to take out Danny's trash_ , Vlad mentally noted as he led Danny downstairs to the dining room.

He saw that Danny looked slightly better from when he arrived, but he still emitted a sullen aura that Vlad could detect. He knew grief takes time to heal, however, and didn't question about it.

Danny took his plate of steak and potatoes gratefully as Vlad smiled back, and they sat down to eat. Both ate in silence for a bit before Danny spoke.

"Vlad?" Danny started.

Vlad looked up from his meal and looked at Danny. "Yes?" He replied.

"Why are you so willing to help me? We've been enemies for a while now, and I didn't expect you to, you know, take me in." Danny stated, wanting a reply. Although he was grateful that Vlad took him in, he didn't know why he was so eager to. He himself didn't know why Vlad was the first person he thought of when asked if he had any surviving guardians.

Vlad rested a finger on his chin as he thought about it. _This was what I was thinking about earlier…_ "Well, Daniel, remember the reunion you attended?"

Danny nodded while trying to not bring up memories of how Vlad locked him in a spectral energy neutralizer. If Vlad was being civil, he didn't want to spoil it by his demeanor towards him unintentionally souring.

"Well, I did tell you that I wanted to teach you new ghost powers. I thought that we could be the perfect father and son duo; both of us were halfas, and both of us became halfas through unfortunate accidents. The only reason why we became enemies is because you refused. Now, in an unfortunate way, you came to me for shelter and guidance, and I gladly gave it to you." Vlad recalled.

Danny thought that made sense and was satisfied by the response, but what he said next shocked Vlad to his very core.

"Vlad, I want you to remove my human side."

Vlad almost spat out the piece of steak that would in his mouth. He swallowed at stare incredulously at Danny, horrified. "WHAT!?" Clearing his throat as he realized that was a bit over the top, Vlad spoke again. "Daniel, why on EARTH would you do that?"

"I've been crying for hours, Vlad, HOURS." Danny said, on the verge of letting sorrow overtake him again. "I don't want any human emotions to weigh me down anymore."

Vlad stuttered before he responded, taken aback by the sudden request. "Daniel, that is extremely dangerous and is not worth the benefits you perceive. Your ghost half could become unstable during the separation, and could do impulsive things that may-"

"I don't care!" Danny yelled, switching from sadness to anger in a matter of seconds. "I've had enough of all this grief. I just want to be happy again."

Vlad looked at him sadly as he knew exactly what Danny was going through, but he didn't want Danny to turn out like he did. "Daniel, no. As I said, it's extremely dangerous."

"Since when did you care!?" Danny exclaimed. He was starting to become hysterical, and Vlad knew if he honored Danny's wishes, it would exacerbate the problem instead of the intended solution.

"Since you came, Daniel." Vlad stated honestly. He looked at Danny with concern as Danny rose from the table.

"You don't care about me; if you did, you'd honor my wishes and put me out of my misery." Danny said with a chilling coldness as he suddenly turned into Phantom, flying off.

Vlad acted quickly as he turned into Plasmius, trying to pursue Danny, lest he lose him forever. In this state, he was afraid what Danny would do. "DANIEL!" He yelled as he was hot on his trail, but he knew that Danny would elude him, and he would lose him unless he did something soon.

Getting an idea, Vlad created a clone and positioned it in front on Danny. The shock caused Danny to instinctively slow down, and Vlad used this opportunity to grab Danny, reabsorbing his clone.

Danny struggled as he tried to break free, but Vlad was staunchly holding him in place as he dragged him back to his mansion. "Let me go!"

"No, Daniel, I won't. You'll either die out there or become evil like I did, and I don't want that to happen to you." Vlad wholeheartedly said as he phased both of them through one of the windows in his home.

Danny stared at him before breaking down, crying into Vlad's shoulder as he didn't know what to feel anymore.

Vlad looked at Danny with sympathy as he laid Danny down on the bed in his room. Danny had reverted back to his human form by this point and Vlad did the same. Danny slowly stopped crying as he fell asleep with dried tears on his pillow.

Vlad, seeing Danny was asleep, took the tissue-filled trash can to the main trash while he thought about what just happened. He knew that Danny was emotionally unstable right now, and anything that he did would have a profound effect on whether Danny would be able to get through this or not.

Later that night, Vlad checked in on Danny before he went to sleep. Seeing that he was sleeping soundly, Vlad sighed in relief as he headed to his own room next door to sleep.

Although he was still uncertain as to how Danny would be tomorrow, he knew that it was now his responsibility to care for Danny and to be his mentor, and he would do it to the best of his ability. No longer was he Danny's arch-enemy; now he was his guardian, and with his help, Danny would make it through the rain.


	3. Nightmares

It was night in Amity Park. Unusually quiet, there were no ghosts terrorizing citizens, and their screams of terror never rang out. Instead, the eerie silence remained while the people of Amity Park slept.

However, that silence and peace was not destined to last. Vlad Masters, one of the richest men in America, was, for a time, like everyone else; sleeping soundly, until a bloodcurdling scream emanated from the neighboring room.

Originally not fully awake, Vlad put a pillow over his head as he tried to drown out the noise, until he remembered Danny was living at his house now. Fearing the worst, Vlad quickly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he bolted out of his bed, opening his bedroom door quickly and barging into the neighboring bedroom where Danny was sleeping.

Danny was reliving the previous day as he bolted upright, screaming as he thought the nightmare which depicted his family and friends' death all over again was reality.

"NO! You're not dead, you're not dead, you're not dead…" Danny repeated the same phrase over and over again in denial while Vlad stared in horror. He knew Danny had a troubled mind ever since yesterday, but this was getting out of hand.

"Little Badger, you're fine, you're awake, it's just a nightmare." Vlad reassured as he walked over to sit with Danny on his bed, holding the boy in his arms in an attempt to calm him down.

However, his attempts were in vain. Danny still shook in Vlad's arms as he cried, trying to remove images of what he wanted to reject as reality from his head. If he didn't think about it, it wouldn't hurt as much, was his reasoning.

Vlad looked at Danny empathetically; although not quite as severe, the accident he went through in his college days yielded similar results. He, however, had no one to talk to. Danny, on the other hand, did. Being able to talk to someone about how you were feeling was one of the key steps to recovery, Vlad believed.

If Danny would just let him help him, his road to recovery would be shorter, and he would suffer for a shorter amount of time. He didn't need to go to such drastic measures like removing his humanity; Vlad needed to show Danny that.

Danny had fallen asleep in his arms, with dried tears staining his cheeks. Solemnly looking at him, Vlad pit him back down onto his bed and tucked him in, hoping that no more nightmares would disrupt the poor boy's sleep any further.

Seeing that the boy was peaceful for now, Vlad sighed and returned back to his own bedroom, hoping to get some more shuteye until morning; it was 3 in the morning, after all. However, he found that his thoughts were still troubled, as he worried about how Danny would be in the morning.

Would he be alright? There was probably an obvious answer, but the real question was to what degree would Danny be terrified; if he was debilitated by fear, he knew that he would have to step in and try to help the boy as much as he could. If he was relatively fine, then he knew that he wouldn't have to do as much; the boy would heal naturally over time.

Different scenarios kept popping up in his head as he lay on his bed, tossing and turning constantly. This plagued him all the way until the sun started to shine through his window, and Vlad sighed as he realized that he didn't get any more sleep in the 4 hours that he could have gotten.

 _Well, I think 6 hours is enough…_ Vlad thought as he got up, yawning as he changed into his normal suit. He would go down and make breakfast; knowing teenagers, Danny would most likely not be up this early, and he would have time to do so.

Giving a glance to the neighboring door and he stepped out into the hallway, Vlad saw that Danny's door was still closed, which he took as a signal that Fanny was still sleeping. He then descended the staircase to make breakfast.

It'd just be a simple breakfast of sausages and scrambled eggs; just because he was rich didn't mean that he had an extravagant feast for every meal course.

Finishing up the batch of sausages, Vlad took them out of the oven and started frying the eggs when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning around, he saw a tired-looking Danny enter the kitchen as he gave Vlad a silent stare before sitting down at the dining room table in the adjacent room.

Knowing that Danny was probably still traumatized by yesterday and the nightmare last night, Vlad knew that he had to be astute when talking to Danny in order to avoid any unwanted emotional attacks.

Coming out of the kitchen with two plates of sausages and scrambled eggs, Vlad set them down on the table while Danny stared blankly into space, seeming to zone out. Once he saw the plate of food, he reacted and started to eat it, and both of them ate in silence until Vlad decided that some civil conversation might be in order; it was getting awkward.

"So, how did you sleep?" Vlad inquired.

Danny stabbed a piece of sausage with his fork. "You know how it was. Awful. Nightmarish. Hell."

Staring in shock, Vlad quickly recovered and tried to act normally again. His attempt at trying to be astute obviously failed; asking about events which Danny suffered from probably wasn't the best idea.

"...Anyway, how's the food?" Vlad asked awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

"Good." Danny said curtly, not feeling like talking. He practically buried his face in his food while he ate, giving Vlad all the body language he could possibly need to figure it out.

Obviously, it wasn't enough. "Do you need anything else? I have some pancake mix if you want any."

Danny sighed as he gripped his fork, trying to resist the urge to yell at Vlad in rage. Couldn't the dolt just get the hint!? "It's fine. I'm going to go back upstairs." With that, he stood up and briskly headed back to his room without letting Vlad reply.

Vlad stared after him in shock as Danny left, incredulous. He had seen that Danny had been gripping the fork unnecessarily tightly, leaving a visible dent in the stainless steel. He postulated that it was probably a result of the emotional instability that came with trauma, and Danny had been overcome by anger.

Vlad took that as a warning to be especially careful when he talked to Danny; maybe not asking questions would be off to a good start. He knew that Danny was a powerful halfa, and if he pushed the wrong buttons, he would be left with multiple injuries.

However, Vlad knew that if he wanted to be worthy of being Danny's guardian, he had to deal with it and help Danny heal; that's what parents do, and if he wanted to fulfill that role, he would have to work for it.

Besides, he would do anything to earn Danny's trust; that was his major goal at that fateful "family reunion", and that goal still remained, no matter what the circumstances were.

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 **Sorry that this chapter came out late! School has been busy as always, and juggling homework and writing isn't always the easiest thing to do. Thanks for all of y'all's support!**


	4. Recovery

After the disaster that was breakfast, lunch wasn't much better. Danny hadn't talked to him for the whole morning, and Vlad was extremely worried about his wellbeing, so much so that he couldn't focus while trying to prepare lunch.

He had let his hand slip from its position on the handle of the pan, and scared himself as the pan almost hit the ground. He managed to save the mac and cheese cooking on the pan, putting the pan back on the stove while he wiped some sweat from his brow. Looking at a clock on the adjacent wall, he saw that it was noon. Time to call Danny down for lunch.

After putting the almost-ruined mac and cheese on two plates, he went up the staircase to Danny's room. He hadn't emerged from his room at all, and Vlad was starting to worry whether Danny was okay in there.

He started to regret the decision of letting Danny stay in a bedroom with a connecting bathroom; that way, at least he could see if Danny was alright when he used the bathroom.

Coming to the staircase landing, Vlad headed towards Danny's room, sweating out of nervousness. Although he knew that Danny was probably fine, he couldn't help but assume the worst.

Although he wasn't his real guardian yet (he had to remember to sign the papers), Vlad sure felt like one, and if Danny did something rash during his period of emotional instability, he could never forgive himself.

Taking a deep breath, Vlad knocked on the door, his eyes flitting left to right as a nervous habit. "Daniel? Lunch is ready. Do you want to come down?"

Vlad cringed at the wordiness; he could have made it shorter. Hell, why did he have to be so awkward!?

Luckily, Danny didn't seem to be irritated like he was this morning when he replied. "Yeah, I'll be down in a few." His voice didn't sound strained either.

 _Maybe he's starting to recover,_ Vlad thought as he spoke. "Alright then, so I'll see you downstairs?" Vlad confirmed.

"Yep." Danny replied curtly, not wanting to make any new conversation.

Vlad sighed as he descended the staircase, hoping that this time, he wouldn't make Danny uncomfortable when he tried to make civil conversation at the dining table. Besides, that would probably reverse any possible healing Danny had experienced over time, and reminding him inadvertently about the disaster would probably not be the best idea.

Right as he was carrying the plates to the dining room, Danny emerged from his room and soon was at the bottom of the staircase, looking at Vlad with less of a deadpanned face than before.

He gave Vlad a nod of acknowledgement before digging in as Vlad watched him eat, trying to ascertain whether Danny had actually improved or not. His eyes looked less red than before so he deduced that Danny had probably stopped crying.

However, that didn't mean that the pain was gone; Vlad knew that firsthand after the accident. His eyes had dried up, and people assumed that he had become his normal self again. Obviously, that was not the case, as the ghost half that matured inherited all of the malice that Vlad felt, and that was why he had evil tendencies.

Danny, on the other hand, never had anything of the sort, which was why his ghost half was almost the same in personality to his human half.

Talking about him, Vlad was interrupted from his thoughts as Danny spoke to him. Because Danny hadn't done that ever since last night and this morning, Vlad paid special attention to him.

"Uh, Vlad? Are you going to continue staring at me or are you going to eat your mac and cheese?" Danny asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

Realizing that he probably looked weird and creepy, Vlad cleared his throat as he quickly looked down at his food, which was now stone-cold. Sighing, he picked up some of it with his fork and ate it while he replied. "Right, sorry."

Danny rolled his eyes as he continued eating his lunch. "So...I didn't know you could cook, Vlad." He said, trying to break the awkwardness that quickly came over them.

"Oh, uh, this is just from a mix, so it's not really, well, 'real' cooking." Vlad admitted, trying to sound humble.

Danny shrugged. "Not like anyone I know of cooks from scratch. That's rare nowadays." He then realized he had been getting some pretty basic meals ever since he came to Vlad's mansion: steak and potatoes, sausages and scrambled eggs, and now mac and cheese. It's not that he wasn't grateful, but didn't rich people eat stuff like caviar?

"Hey, uh, Vlad? Do you eat stuff like this everyday?" Danny asked.

"Why, yes, Daniel, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Don't rich people eat fancy stuff like caviar?"

 _Well, if there was any doubt that Daniel is at least somewhat better, that's gone now,_ Vlad thought. "Actually, I dislike caviar, and just because someone is rich, does not mean they don't eat the same things middle-class people eat. Besides, I'm a frugal man."

 _Says the guy with a mansion the size of the White House…_ "I guess that makes sense."

Vlad suddenly remembered he had something very important to tell Danny, though he was unsure as to how he would react to it. He knew that Danny had at least somewhat gotten better, but if he took it the wrong way, Vlad would end up as a puddle of ectoplasm.

"Daniel, can I tell you something?" Vlad asked hesitantly, insecurity obvious in his tone,

Danny stopped eating his mac and cheese, intrigued. "Yeah, Vlad? What is it?"

"Well, Daniel, I was thinking of how you still need to go to school, as it is illegal for you to not do so…" Vlad trailed off, reading Danny's reaction experimentally.

However, Vlad saw that Danny had more of a "meh" response as he said "Oh, yeah, right. You want me to go to the high school here?" Danny asked, dreading having to go to high school again. Casper High had left him with a bad impression of school, and he hoped that the jocks at Madison High School or whatever it was called weren't mean like Dash.

 _Hm, that wasn't as bad as I thought…_ "Actually, Daniel, I have heard of how you hated Casper High so much, and I couldn't let my Little Badger suffer when he's supposed to learn." Vlad explained. "That's why, Daniel, I'm homeschooling you."

Danny's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened to the size if dinner plates. "Vlad, are you even qualified to teach?"

Vlad sighed. If the boy was going to insult him like old times, maybe his emotionally fragile state was better. "Well, no, but the paperwork is already done. Besides, I know a great deal about many different subjects, and I could even throw in some ghost training."

Although it sounded appealing to Danny, he couldn't get over the fact that this was his former arch-enemy. Arch. Enemy. "But, didn't we hate each other's guts a week ago?"

"Yes, Daniel, but that's in the past. I have made multiple attempts as letting bygones be bygones, and now is the perfect opportunity to do so. I don't believe in holding grudges, so if you're willing to, we can forgive each other of everything."

 _Oh, what the hell, if it means not having to deal with any Dash wannabes, count me in._ "Since you were nice enough to take me in, I forgive you."

"And I forgive you." Vlad said, extending his hand for a handshake.

Danny was about to take it when a resounding crash stunned them both, and they turned to the broken dining room window to see someone they never wanted to see.

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 **Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry that this chapter was out late (again). Please let me know how y'all are liking the story in the reviews! They're always appreciated.**


	5. Boxes and Lunch

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" The spectre yelled, to both of the halfas' irritation.

Trying to keep calm, Vlad took a deep breath while trying not to beat the afterlife out of the Box Ghost. "Did you really have to break through one of my WINDOWS?" He shouted, indignant.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR WINDOWS OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT!" He declared, getting on both of the halfas' nerves.

Vlad grumbled something that sounded like a line of obscenities before speaking again, while Danny stared disinterestedly at one of his so-called "enemies." "Don't you have the decency to leave us alone for at least a WEEK? Word travels fast in the Ghost Zone, doesn't it?"

The Box Ghost looked offended as he continued hovering above the broken shards of what once was one of the dining room windows. One of his hands started to glow with ecto energy as he got ready to fire. "YOU THINK THAT THE BOX GHOST PAYS ATTENTION TO GHOST ZONE GOSSIP?"

Danny rolled his eyes as he decided that he had enough of the Box Ghost's antics. "C'mon Vlad, let's kick this guy butt back to the Ghost Zone." He said as he transformed into Phantom, eager to get this over and done with.

 _Wow, he actually asked me to fight with him? He must've actually forgiven me…_ "Gladly." Vlad replied as he transformed into Plasmius, surrounded by a pink aura of ecto energy of his own.

The Box Ghost almost dropped all of the boxes he had assembled around him as he quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to stand a chance against two very powerful halfas; not that he would've stood a chance against just one anyway.

"WAIT! I WILL TAKE MY-" He was cut off from his desperate attempt to backpedal as he was hit by two simultaneous ghost rays from Phantom and Plasmius, sent through the same window he had crashed through and into a neighboring tree, which he slumped down in pain.

Not going down without a fight, though, the Box Ghost hurled several empty boxes towards the both of them…complete with box cutters. Vlad turned intangible and they passed through him harmlessly, while Danny tried to dodge several of them before getting hit by one.

He cried out in agony, but was thankful for his speed healing as the cut closed up in a matter of seconds.

Vlad, although he knew that Danny was alright, felt a deluge of rage as he stared the Box Ghost down. "How DARE you!" He screamed indignantly as he teleported behind the Box Ghost, catching him off guard by sending several ghost rays towards his back, which sent him back towards the mansion as he slammed into the brick wall lining the outside of the mansion.

"It okay, Vlad, I have the Fenton Thermos." Danny reassured as he flew towards where the Box Ghost was. Before he could escape, Danny had already opened the Thermos up and pressed the trigger, trapping the Box Ghost in the Themos while he yelled one last "BEWARE!"

Both of them powered down as Danny set the Thermos down on the ground, relieved that the skirmish was over.

"Daniel, did you not know that you can use your intangibility to your advantage in battle?" Vlad asked, concerned that Danny caused unnecessary injuries to himself.

"Well, yeah, I forgot about it." Danny admitted, nervously laughing. "I always do; I shouldn't let it become a habit."

"All the more reason that you would benefit from being taught by me." Vlad said, smiling. "I have experience beyond your years, and you could benefit greatly in your combat prowess."

"I guess that makes sense." Danny replied, about to return back to the mansion before he stopped himself. "By the way, Vlad, what was that whole rage fit about?"

"Whatever do you mean, Daniel?" Vlad asked, ignoring the "rage fit" part.

"After I got cut, you looked extremely angry, and almost beat the afterlife out of a ghost who isn't even that threatening." Danny explained, looked at Vlad with an eyebrow raised.

 _Did I react overreact that much?_ "Well, Daniel, I guess that because we're okay now, I feel responsible for your safety. Besides, I'm about to become your legal guardian; it's my job to care for you."

"...Oh." Danny replied, unsure as to how to react. He still couldn't really process the fact that Vlad had such an attitude change from a week ago, when they were at each other's throats. "Well, thanks, Vlad, but it was just a minor cut. I heal really quickly from those; as long as it's nothing serious, I'll usually heal up almost instantaneously."

"Oh, if that's case, then I'll take that into account next time." Vlad said as they both went back into the mansion.

Danny looked back at the broken window and then asked what was on Vlad's mind. "Vlad, are you going to call someone to fix the window?"

"I suppose I should do that. I have a window company I can call, so it shouldn't be much of an issue." Vlad replied, not worrying too much about it. "Have you finished lunch?"

"Yep, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back upstairs." Danny said.

Vlad was about to let him go before he realized something; besides the furniture, that bedroom had nothing. No technology at all. In that case, if Danny didn't bring anything with him, he'd be bored stiff!

"Daniel, did you want me to bring a computer up there? You must be bored up there with nothing to do; I also have a movie theater if you want to watch something."

"It's okay, Vlad, I brought my laptop and PDA with me."

"Okay then, Daniel, I'll see you later."

Danny then went upstairs while Vlad washed up, clearing the dining table and sweeping up the shards from the broken window. He'd call the window company as soon as possible to get it fixed; mosquitoes were common during this season, and he didn't want to get any in his house.

As he was applying the insect net as a filler of sorts, he couldn't help but think back to Danny and his relationship with him. Judging that they had pretty much reached an agreement to let bygones be bygones (until their handshake was rudely interrupted), he assumed that Danny now thought of him as a caring father of sorts, and that he would do anything to protect him as proven by the unexpected ghost attack.

He just hoped that nothing would change that. Ever.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry I missed this deadline again! Thanksgiving was busy, so I didn't have the optimal amount of time needed to write this chapter. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out on time. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	6. The Accident

"Sign here, here, here...and done." Vlad said to himself as he filled out the adoption papers, sealing them in an envelope. He wrote down the address for Madison City Hall as he put them in his briefcase; he'd go out later to mail it. He also sealed the papers for homeschooling in another envelope to the same destination.

He sighed a sigh of relief as he stood up from his desk, resolving to go check how Danny was doing. Judging by yesterday, he assumed that Danny had been doing well; he hadn't had any nightmares last night, and he responded to the Box Ghost's unprecedented attack quite well.

"Daniel?" Vlad cautiously asked as he approached Danny's door. Like yesterday, he hadn't seen Danny for the morning, and he was curious as to how he was doing.

"Lunch is ready?" Danny presumed as he opened the door.

Vlad peeked at the trash can in Danny's room, and saw that it wasn't full of tissues. _That's a good sign,_ Vlad mentally noted as he responded. "Actually, no, I was just checking up on you to see whether you were okay."

Danny seemed unfazed by the question, glancing at a random spot on the opposite wall. "I'm fine, thank you." He said, seeming to not want to talk about his emotional state.

Vlad knew that he shouldn't press on the subject, and resolved to go back to his study. "Well, I'll be in my study if you need me. By the way, you're free to roam about the mansion if you please; I have a library, movie theatre, and game room to name a few if you need to entertain yourself. Lunch will be out in an hour."

He had explained the layout of the mansion to Danny yesterday to the best of his ability, as he knew that it was always confusing to visitors, let alone guests. The mansion was simply too big, and people couldn't find their way around the place.

Danny nodded and was about to step back into his room where he had his laptop running, until he remembered something that he wanted to ask Vlad, though he hoped that it wasn't too personal; they had only met a few days ago, after all.

"Wait, Vlad!" Danny exclaimed, trying to get Vlad's attention.

Vlad immediately stopped and turned around, looking at Danny intently. "Yes, Daniel?"

"If you don't mind me asking…" Danny started, "What did you do after the lab accident?"

…Well, that kind of question was unexpected. Though it probably shouldn't have been; Danny was probably smart enough to see the parallels between the lab accident which changed his life and his own tragedy which caused great grief to him.

Vlad knew that Danny wanted advice about how to deal with emotional sorrow, and although it touched him that Danny was asking him, it pained him to talk about it.

Vlad stopped himself from cringing for Danny's sake, and took a deep breath. "Well, my dear boy, the first moments after the accident were quite hazy." He stopped himself as he knew he would be talking for quite a while. "May I suggest that we sit down? This will be long, and standing for too long isn't good."

Danny nodded in agreement and both of them sat on Danny's bed. "Anyway, I remember yelling in pure horror right after the accident, as I saw my face covered in ecto-acne in the mirror. After that, I must have passed out from the shock, since the next thing I remember was lying down on the hospital bed."

"My parents visited me first, and were worried sick about me. However, I convinced them that i was fine, and that I would be discharged soon, since the doctor found nothing abnormal besides the ecto-acne." Vlad paused to judge Danny's reaction so far, and he seemed calm, so Vlad decided to continue.

"Jack and Maddie visited me next, and I…" He trailed off as he knew that Danny would be hurt from hearing his parents' names, and he also knew that he had been a fool to do the things he had done back then. He saw that Danny's expression had soured, but no tears had formed yet.

"It's okay, Vlad, continue." Danny said, as if he was reading Vlad's mind. Reassured, Vlad nodded and continued on.

"I never forgave them for what they did, Jack specifically. With the ecto-acne on my face, I had told them both to get out, and that I didn't want to see them. My anger had eluded me of the fact that they were my friends, and that they were genuinely sorry for what they had done. As you can see, that never really changed after that the day. The next time I saw them was at the reunion I hosted."

"After that, I discovered my ghost powers in the hospital the next day, as I reached for lunch the nurse had placed on the bedside table for me. My ecto-acne had already healed somewhat, and I was due to be discharged in a week. The nurse had accidentally placed the meal out of my reach, and I struggled to reach it."

"When I did finally grasp it, I found that I was floating in the air, and I almost dropped the plate in sheer shock." Vlad recalled, shuddering as he remembered how he felt. "However, I soon learned how to control these newfound powers, and once I was discharged, I had mastered them already."

"The rage that I had felt in the hospital mixed with my newly formed ghost half, and influenced the way it developed. That's the difference between Phantom and Plasmius: you never experienced anything like that when you got your ghost half, so your ghost half has the same personality as you."

"Mine, on the other hand, is slightly different from, well, me. I've managed to slowly change it over the years, but initially, it was quite evil, and it influenced me too. That's how I went on my streak of using my ghost powers for personal gain, which I hope will not happen to you."

"So, is Plasmius totally different from you? Do you have mental conversations with him or something?" Danny asked.

"No, it's not like he's a separate person, but having a ghost half leaves a lasting impression on you. The simplest way to explain it is that when I experienced that hate for Jack and Maddie, it lasted a lot longer than it should've for normal people."

"So how is he now?"

"Well, I'd say he's now like Phantom; not many differences from the human side. Maybe he's a contributor to some of the 'fruitloopy' characteristics you talk about, but he's now just like me."

"Thanks for talking about it." Danny said, seeming to be in thought.

"No problem, Daniel. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go make lunch. I'll call you down when it's ready." Vlad replied, standing up and heading to the door.

 _I hope that discussion helped him heal,_ Vlad thought as he descended the staircase to the kitchen.

* * *

 **Finally got a chapter done on time!**


	7. Ghostly Wail

A week had passed, and Danny seemed to be getting better and better every day. Of course, Vlad knew he wasn't fully back to normal; maybe he never would be. That was the case for him; ever since the lab accident, he had never been the same.

Vlad sighed as he checked his mail. No, Danny was an exception. He knew it. He carried the mail to his desk in his study as he yawned, sifting through the mail. Junk, junk, and more junk. He was about to throw all of it away until he saw an envelope addressed to him from the City Hall.

Curious, he opened it, and was overjoyed when he saw it; it was approval of the documents he had sent to them a week earlier. He was now Danny's legal guardian and teacher; all the curriculum he needed to teach Danny would be sent to him within 24 hours.

"Daniel? Daniel!" He called as he went down the hallway to Danny's room, where he knew he would be. Although he had gotten better at getting out of the room (Vlad had seen him playing some billiards in the games room), Danny still spent the majority of his time in his room.

Danny opened the door as Vlad arrived, not even waiting for him to knock. "Yeah, Vlad? What is it?" He asked, sleepily. It was evident that he had been napping, since he had so much free time.

"My dear boy, guess what?" Vlad said excitedly.

"What?" Danny asked again, wiping sleep out of his eyes.

"I got the papers back from City Hall, and I'm now your legal guardian and teacher!" Vlad exclaimed, acting like he had just won the lottery.

"Oh. That means I have to study and do homework…" Danny lamented, sighing.

"Aw, cheer up! Besides, you've had nothing to do for the past week, right?"

"I guess so…"

"That's the spirit! I don't have any curriculum yet, since they haven't sent it yet, but we can get started on ghost training!"

"Couldn't you have just started on it earlier? It's probably not part of the main curriculum." Danny pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes…I never thought about it that way, I suppose." Vlad admitted, scratching his head. "Nevertheless, better late than never! We can train in the back garden; no one will see us there."

"Won't all your plants get vaporized?" Danny asked, trying to get out of doing any kind of physical activity.

"That's the point, Daniel! The training is to spar, and not cause any damage to the surroundings!"

"Vlad, that is near impossible to do. If I miss a shot, whatever is in the path of my ghost ray is a goner." Danny stated, laying down on his bed.

"Fine, fine, I could make an arena of sorts. I would create a rectangular ghost shield around us that absorbs any kind of ghost energy. That way, my landscaping won't be damaged."

Although that would fix the issue, Danny did NOT feel like getting up right now. "Five more minutes, Vlad…"

However, Vlad wasn't going to give up that easily. "Come on, Daniel! It's a beautiful day outside. You've been crammed in here all day long." Vlad said, as he pulled Danny out of his bed.

Danny sighed and conceded, following Vlad as he pulled him through the vast hallway. _If this is what a mid-life crisis looks like, I'll dread the time I turn 40…_ Danny thought as they headed outside.

Danny shielded his eyes as the sun shined right in his face, stumbling as his eyes, not used to such bright light, tried to adjust.

Vlad was overly chipper as he beckoned Danny over to an empty spot in his garden. "We can start here." Vlad stated, gesturing to the spot next to where he was standing.

Danny rolled his eyes as he walked towards Vlad. The quicker he finished this, the quicker he could get back to playing Doomed.

Once Danny got close enough to Vlad, Vlad encased both of them in a pink rectangular ghost shield which would absorb any stray ghost attacks lest the trees, flowers, and bushes get vaporized.

"Okay, Daniel, you start." Vlad said, crossing his arms as he transformed into his ghost form.

"...Are you sure, Vlad?" Danny asked, following suit. "I've gotten stronger from the last time you've fought me."

"We'll see about that." Vlad replied, staring at him expectantly as he hovered over the grass.

Knowing that he had warned him, Danny raced towards him, aiming a fist at his solar plexus.

However, what he didn't expect was to be met by a ghost shield to the face. Exclaiming in pain and rubbing his face, Danny looked at Vlad to see him smugly smirking at him while dissipating the ghost shield.

"I've gotten stronger as well, Daniel." Vlad explained, readying himself for the next blow.

"Touché." Danny conceded as he charged a ghost ray and sent it, trying something a bit more powerful than hand to hand combat.

Of course, Vlad deflected it with another ghost shield, obviously not fazed by the attacks. "Come on, Daniel, I know you can do better than that." Vlad chided, seeming disappointed.

Knowing that he wasn't using his powers to his full potential, Danny knew what he needed to do to land a blow. Turning invisible, Danny quickly flew behind Vlad and sent a ghost ray towards his back, trying to sneak attack him.

It worked, and Vlad was caught off guard as he was sent a few feet by the ghost ray. "Very good, Daniel." Vlad complimented as he sent multiple ghost rays of his own towards Danny, testing what he would do.

Danny turned intangible and let the rays go through him harmlessly, one of the few times he used it during battle. He had obviously learned from last time.

Smiling as he knew that Danny took his advice, Vlad duplicated himself and surrounded Danny with four clones, knowing that Danny couldn't duplicate yet.

Danny knew this too, and tried to attack all four at once. However, he failed as he was bombarded by multiple ghost rays, which weakened him. He was quickly becoming frustrated as he shot back with shields and ghost rays to retaliate, but it obviously wasn't enough. The attacks also started to drain his energy, and he was going to lose if he didn't do something soon.

Vlad knew that ghosts under severe pressure would be able to unlock new powers; that was how he unlocked some of his. Because Danny was young, he was sure that he had potential to become much stronger than he already was, and that would benefit him greatly if any other ghost decided to pick a fight with him later on.

By putting Danny under the pressure to find something more powerful, he hoped that Danny might be able to use more powers than use basic shields and rays.

Danny, on the other hand, didn't know this, and was wondering why Vlad wasn't stopping when he was clearly struggling. He tried to muster as much energy as he could and managed to deflect half of the attacks, but the rest were hitting him and causing him to slip up even more.

Slowly, he started to forget that he was sparring, and all he wanted was for his attackers (who he forgot were Vlad's clones) to get away. The combined frustration and anger from the prospect of losing caused him to yell in rage, and what came next would stun both him and Vlad. "Get away, GET AWAY!" He yelled.

Unknowingly, he unleashed a powerful wave of ecto-energy which dissipated the clones and sent the real Vlad flying towards the ghost shield. Stunned, he let it dissipate, and he slammed into a tree. As soon as it started, it ended.

Danny didn't know what was happening, but he was vaguely aware of himself quickly weakening, and he soon passed out and reverted to his human form, falling towards the ground.

Vlad quickly sprung into action, flying towards Danny and catching him, lowering him to the ground. He reverted to human form as well, looking at Danny frantically. "Daniel? DANIEL!" He yelled as he prayed that Danny wasn't somehow dead.

He sighed a sigh of relief as Danny slowly woke up, looking at Vlad tiredly. "What happened?" Danny asked, confused and disorientated.

"I think you just used a new power, Little Badger." Vlad speculated.

"Well, it certainly did a number on you…" Danny pointed out.

Vlad's normally coiffed hair was all over the place, and his suit and bowtie were wrinkled from being slammed into the tree. Vlad, however, wasn't concerned about that. "What about you, Daniel? You used so much power that you passed out."

"I'm fine, Vlad, it's just tiring." Danny said, standing up. "I guess I should save it for really powerful enemies."

"That makes sense." Vlad agreed. "How did you do it?" He asked, intrigued.

"I don't know, I think I was just frustrated at how I was in a losing position, and I was desperate." Danny recalled.

"Oh." Vlad replied, still amazed by what just happened. He suddenly realized, however, that they were still out in the open. "Daniel, you should go inside and rest; training is over for today."

"Are you sure, Vlad?"

"Yes, Daniel, now go inside before I change my mind."

Nothing made Danny go inside quicker as he speed-walked into the mansion, as Vlad slowly followed him. _This phenomenon requires research,_ Vlad thought as he stepped inside, shutting the door.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry that this chapter is extremely late! I hope that I'll be able to make the prospective deadline for the next chapter. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to get this chapter out today. Please leave reviews to let me know how you're liking the story so far!**


	8. Education

"Now, Daniel, what's the angle in this triangle?" Vlad asked, gesturing to a certain problem in Danny's math homework. He had gotten the materials for homeschooling a few hours ago, and dragged Danny out of his room to start teaching him.

"How the hell am I supposed to know just from 2 sides and an angle? I can't do trig because it's not a right triangle." Danny snapped, unaccustomed to working. It had been a month since he had been in school, and his brain was rusty.

Vlad's eye twitched as he sighed. "Daniel, watch your profanity. And you're supposed to use Law of Sines." Danny hadn't been in a good mood when he dragged him out, and Vlad was taking the brunt of it. He knew that Danny was just spoilt from being out of school for too long.

"Oh." Danny replied as he did the math problem.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "Has math never been your strong suit?" He questioned, wanting to find out what Danny was good in.

"Well, not really, I always asked…" His face fell as he trailed off the sentence, looking glum.

Vlad immediately became concerned and backtracked. "You don't have to explain if you don't want to, Daniel."

Danny shook his head. "It's alright. I can't ignore my past forever." He admitted, wiping a stray tear away. "I always asked Tucker when it came to math, he was always very good at that kind of stuff."

Vlad nodded in agreement; judging by Tucker's proficiency in the technology realm, he would need to be good at math. "Ah, right. Anyway, on to the next problem." However, he wasn't silent as he made small talk while Danny worked on the next triangle, having the foundation necessary to do the problem.

"So what subjects do you enjoy?" Vlad asked, knowing that if he knew which subjects Danny liked and did well in, they would be much easier to teach to him.

Danny scratched his head as he thought about it. "Well, I've always done well in Biology. The teacher just hated me because I kept on breaking test tubes. Not on purpose by the way; they were just stored in unfortunate places which made them extremely fragile." Danny said as he thought about his other subjects.

"English was alright, but Mr. Lancer was a pretty bad teacher, in my opinion. He had an obvious bias to people in sports and picked his favorites from the beginning of the semester." He quickly moved on from that subject, knowing that Mr. Lancer was now dead.

"World History is probably the easiest subject I had. I've always had a liking to history, so studying for quizzes and tests in that subject wasn't really a chore for me."

That was the answer Vlad was looking for as he lit up. "I have a passion for history as well, Daniel. When we get to that subject, I'm sure it'll be enjoyable for the both of us."

"Right." Danny replied, as he finished the current problem. _Only 8 more to go…_

Vlad let his thoughts wander as he reminisced on the fight they had a day ago. The new power Danny had used was extremely powerful, and Vlad had never seen anything like it. If Danny used that power to his advantage in battle, he would be even more of a formidable opponent than he already was, and ghosts wouldn't dare challenge him.

The "wail" of sorts seemed to only be specific to him, however, as when he tried to research about it last night in his study, he had found absolutely nothing about it. To find nothing about an extremely powerful attack was peculiar, but it was possible. Ghost could have powers of their own that are unique to only themselves, but it was quite rare.

He shivered as he thought about how powerful it was when he was hit by it. The force of it sent him back at least a football field away, with some distance to spare, since he was slammed into a tree. The other trees in the path of the wail were blown over and uprooted.

Danny had profusely apologized after he realized what he had done, and Vlad forgave him. He could just make the excuse of a bad storm while he would get landscaping to replant them.

"Uh, Vlad? Earth to Vlad?" Danny asked as he waved a hand in front of Vlad's face, concerned.

Vlad snapped out of his thoughts as he paid attention to his student. He wasn't turning out to be a particularly good teacher on his first day. "Yes, Daniel?"

"I finished all of the problems." Danny said, deadpanned.

Was he out for THAT long? "My apologies, Daniel. I think we can move on to Biology now." He said as he switched to the textbook he had for Biology. He knew that he should be paying attention to educating Danny, but he still couldn't stop thinking about Danny's newfound power.

When they had the chance to spar again, Vlad resolved that he would try and get Danny to be able to use it on his own, and not with the help of anger. If he managed to master his own ability, he'd be able to better protect himself.

* * *

 **For probaly the 100th time in my writing history, I missed the deadline for this chapter, and I apologise. Finals probably won't help either, which is why another chapter probably won't be out until next week. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.**


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